A payment arrangement is the cheapest moment in the entire process, and the moment at which you have the most influence. As long as no summons has been issued, there are no court fees, no legal costs and no judgment. A landlord is not obliged to accept an arrangement, but it is in his interest to do so: an eviction leaves him with an empty property, costs and an unrecoverable claim. And the municipality plays a role here that many tenants are unaware of.
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What you should do now
- Make a specific proposal: an amount per month, a start date, an end date, plus the current rent.
- Make it in writing, by email, so that you can later prove that you did so.
- Do not promise anything you cannot keep up. In legal proceedings, a broken arrangement does more harm than no arrangement at all.
- Register with your municipality’s debt assistance service, even if you think your situation is too minor.
- Keep paying the current rent, including while talks are ongoing.
What belongs in a realistic proposal?
Five things, and no more.
- The current rent. Without it, any proposal lacks credibility. Put it in the first line.
- A fixed monthly amount on top of the rent. Better 75 euros that you can keep up for twelve months than 200 euros that falls apart after two months.
- An end date. An arrangement with no end in sight is rarely accepted.
- A brief explanation of the cause. Job loss, illness, a benefit that stopped, a divorce. Brief, factual, with a supporting document.
- What you have already paid. An overview of your payments since the arrears arose.
Check the balance before you acknowledge any amount. A proposal based on arrears that have been calculated too high works against you. Go through the monthly instalments, payments and the debt collection charges that have been billed, and use the stage the bailiff has reached to see which time limits are now running.
Example text that you can adapt:
Dear Sir or Madam,
Since [date], I have been renting the property at [address]. Due to [cause], arrears of [amount] have arisen. I propose the following: from [date], I will pay the full rent of [amount] every month, plus an additional [amount] towards the arrears, until the arrears have been cleared on [date]. Since [date], I have paid [amount]; I enclose an overview. I ask you to suspend the collection measures for as long as I comply with this arrangement. I look forward to receiving your written response.
You do not need to register anywhere for this and you do not need to use a form from a debt collection agency. Your own email with this content is sufficient.
What is early warning, and how does it help me?
Your landlord is obliged to report your arrears to the municipality, and that report works in your favour. Article 2 of the Municipal Debt Assistance Decree (Besluit gemeentelijke schuldhulpverlening) provides that, in the event of rent arrears, the landlord of residential property must provide your contact details and the amount of the arrears to the Municipal Executive. Certain conditions must first be met: the landlord must have made efforts to establish personal contact, have referred you to debt assistance, have sent at least one written payment reminder and have offered in it to make the report without you objecting.
Once the municipality has received such a signal, it offers you a first meeting (Article 3(1)(b) of the Municipal Debt Assistance Act, Wet gemeentelijke schuldhulpverlening). If there is a threatening situation, including a forced eviction from your home, that first meeting takes place within three working days (Article 4(2) Wgs). After the first meeting, a decision follows with either a plan of action or a refusal (Article 4a(1) Wgs).
What if the landlord did not make the report?
Then in legal proceedings it may cost him his eviction. The Recommendation on tenancy cases of the Tenancy Law Expert Group (LOVCK, May 2023) states that the landlord is deemed to comply with Article 2 of the Decree and must demonstrate this in the summons, for example by submitting the letter to the tenant. If it does not appear that these obligations have been met, the consequences considered appropriate may be attached to this under the “unless” clause of Article 6:265(1) of the Dutch Civil Code (BW), including dismissal of the claim for termination and eviction, even in default cases.
So keep every letter you received from the landlord, and make a note of which letters you did not receive.
What if the landlord refuses?
Refusing is allowed, but it is not without consequences. There is no statutory obligation to accept a payment arrangement. However, your proposal, and its refusal, form part of the circumstances that the court takes into account in the “unless” test of Article 6:265(1) BW. On 28 September 2018 the Supreme Court held (ECLI:NL:HR:2018:1810) that this test is not reserved for rare cases.
In addition, the Recommendation on tenancy cases expressly mentions the possibility that, where a defence is raised, the court may allow a period for payment, apply a tailored approach or order a conditional termination. A written, realistic proposal that was refused is therefore a stronger document at the hearing than a verbal promise.
By way of illustration. A tenant with three months’ arrears proposes in writing to pay the rent plus 100 euros per month and sticks to this for four months. The landlord issues a summons anyway. At the hearing, there is a series of bank statements confirming the proposal, and arrears that are now decreasing. That changes the balance, even though the arrears certainly existed at the time the summons was issued. This is a hypothetical example to illustrate the rule, not a case handled by our firm.
Where it goes wrong
- You promise too much. An arrangement that breaks down after two months works against you.
- You only make verbal agreements. Without confirmation, nothing is established at the hearing.
- You pay towards the arrears but not the current rent. Then the debt keeps growing.
- You wait for the summons. After that, court fees, legal costs and a bailiff are added.
Further reading
- Rent arrears and threatened eviction: what can you do?
- Summons for rent arrears: how do you defend yourself?
- Paying off arrears before the court decides
- Debt collection and the bailiff: what is allowed and what does it cost?
Frequently asked questions
Is my landlord obliged to accept a payment arrangement?
No. However, the court takes your proposal and its refusal into account in the “unless” test of Article 6:265(1) BW, and under the Recommendation on tenancy cases it can allow a period for payment or apply a tailored approach.
Does my landlord have to report my rent arrears to the municipality?
Yes, subject to the conditions of Article 2 of the Municipal Debt Assistance Decree: seeking personal contact, referring you to debt assistance, sending at least one written reminder and offering in it to make the report.
How quickly does the municipality help when eviction is imminent?
In a threatening situation, including a forced eviction from your home, the first meeting takes place within three working days (Article 4(2) of the Municipal Debt Assistance Act).
What do I put in a proposal for a payment arrangement?
The current rent, a fixed monthly amount on top, an end date, a brief explanation of the cause and an overview of what you have already paid. Send it in writing.
Contact us
Would you like us to draft or review your proposal before you send it? Call 070 450 0300 or send your documents via arslan.nl/contact. The first consultation is free of charge and confidential. We have six offices and can also help you in Turkish, Polish and English.
Written by Ömür Arslan, attorney at Arslan Advocaten. Registered in the specialisation register of the Netherlands Bar for tenancy law and social security law. Substantively reviewed on 21 September 2026 against the statutory text, the Recommendation on tenancy cases of the Tenancy Law Expert Group (LOVCK, May 2023) and Supreme Court 28 September 2018, ECLI:NL:HR:2018:1810.
